Bear Digest

Election Brings Non-Binding Defeat to Bears Stadium Proposal

Public funding for a lakefront Bears stadium project was soundly defeated in a non-binding referendum engineered by Pat Quinn for several voting districts.

Gene Chamberlain

Bears president Kevin Warren can't be too encouraged by the defeat of a non-binding referendum for a Bears lakefront stadium.
Bears president Kevin Warren can't be too encouraged by the defeat of a non-binding referendum for a Bears lakefront stadium. / David Banks-Imagn Images
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It wasn't much of an election for the Chicago Bears.

Perhaps the timing wasn't right considering what happened on the football field the last two games.

A non-binding question on a ballot for the 29th Ward in Chicago asked voeters whether public funds should be used to subsidize a Bears stadium and the result was a resounding no.

"No" received 79%, so it would seem Bears team president Kevin Warren is under as much duress these days as his head coach, GM and football team.

Former Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn was the one who engineered putting the question on ballots for voters in the 29th ward.
The ward polled includes parts of Austin, Galewood and Montclare

It's not only a defeat of sorts for the Bears and their president but also for Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, who has been a big supporter of the attempt to build a $4.7 billion indoor stadium south of Soldier Field where the parking lot now sits.

The Bears' proposal would have possibly $1.5 billion coming from public funds and one possibility for funding it was through Illinois Sports Facilities Authority bonds, which helped fund the current White Sox stadium.

Quinn had sought to put the matter in a non-binding referendum to gauge public support for this project.

"Bottom line is that taxpayers of Chicago have higher priorities for their hard earned tax money than another stadium for the Chicago Bears," Quinn told Michael Liptrot of blockclubchicago.org.

The Bears still own the Arlington International Racecourse property and have made strides toward solving the tax dispute they had with three school districts at this location, a situation that helped lead to the possibility of a stadium project on the lakefront.

The Daily Herald reported in October that the Bears might consider the lakefront their objective but they also have not ruled out an alternative at the racetrack site.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker had called it a "non-starter" when the Bears sought state approval for use of public funding for the lakefront project.

The Bears have a lease at the current Soldier Field and it runs through the 2033 season.

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.